Mending

I have been down sick for a week now. I usually get a bad cold in the winter, but this one went way beyond bad. On day three of a sore throat so swollen I was literally choking on my food, I found myself at Urgent Care since, you know, I don't have health insurance.

Long story short, the nurse was incompetent (seriously... she had trouble using a manual blood pressure cuff) and the doctor was convinced, after hearing the time line of my symptoms and doing a cursory, 1-minute exam, that what ailed me was viral and therefore would be unresponsive to antibiotics.

I know who got me sick. I know how their illness progressed. I know antibiotics worked well for them. I went to the doctor so I could get a prescription and start to get healthy. And I met a doctor who did not want to give me prescription.

He and I eventually came to a silent agreement - I subject myself to a strep culture and in return I walk out with a script for the antibiotics I want and feel I need. The bartering system is alive and well in 21st century American health care.

I got my prescription and strong advice to wait a few days before filling. He wanted me to get sicker so I could be sure the prescription would help. I'm all for not over-medicating so as not to create medicine-resistant illnesses, but I knew antibiotics would help me. I filled the prescription and started feeling better that same day. I have five days left to go and I'm definitely on the mend.

I can hardly believe we are in the last week of February. Time certainly seems to be passing more quickly every year. I find it odd to think that, even if I live to 100, a quarter of my life has already passed. Craziness.

Work has been a bit nuts lately, what with half of our staff out ill, the spring line arriving in large quantities daily, and the build up to a large event. Still, the job remains fairly easy and I really can't find much to complain about. Our computers are horrible and cause a lot of problems, but I can't do anything about that.

Both my state and federal tax returns have come through. The state paid for the next six months of insurance on my car, a very small portion of the federal return went towards paying the doctor at urgent care, and the last 90%ish of my federal return went straight into my savings account. Go me with being responsible!

I'm looking forward to spring.

Love!

~g